New figures for the festive period have shown that shoppers are on track to spend £50 million in London’s West End in the Boxing Day sales.

GENERAL MERCHANDISE

London's West End sees Boxing Day bounce

26 December 2018 | by The Retail Bulletin

New figures for the festive period have shown that shoppers are on track to spend £50 million in London’s West End in the Boxing Day sales.

Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of New West End Company, said: “In London’s West End we have seen a Boxing Day bounce, with footfall up 15% this morning. International tourists are out in force driven by the weaker pound, as well as domestic shoppers who are looking for day out after family celebrations yesterday."

The organisation that represents over 600 businesses in Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street said that retailers will be pulling out all the stops to attract shoppers by offering big discounts and one-off experiences for shoppers in-store.

Tyrrell added: “We’re on track for £50 million spend today, which will rise to a total figure of £2.5 billion for the critical Christmas trading period. It has been a competitive and challenging year for UK retail with rising costs and squeezed profit margins. As the largest private sector employer in the country, we need the Government to get beyond Brexit and support Britain’s retail sector in 2019.”

Digitally native competitors and demanding customers are forcing a new perspective in retail. AI and machine learning can help you step up to the challenges; and some ‘small and beautiful’ solutions can increase your conversion rates within just a few weeks.